wvfacilitators

Laura McCullough, vice president of the community education division at BridgeValley Community and Technical College, has more than 26 years of experience in higher education, first at West Virginia State University, an 1890 land-grant HBCU, then at Kanawha Valley Community and Technical College, and finally at BridgeValley. McCullough earned a master’s degree in business administration at Oklahoma City University and is currently completing her dissertation on work-integrated learning for a Marshall University doctoral program in higher education leadership that she will, hopefully, complete in August of 2019. McCullough’s success rests upon the close community and industry ties she has developed and maintained during her tenure in higher education. McCullough serves on the local Workforce Investment Board, the Charleston Job Corps Center Community Relations Board, and collaborates on training projects with area employers and service provider organizations, such as the West Virginia Real Estate Commission, Goodwill Industries, and Habitat for Humanity.

Jim Pajarillo

Jim Pajarillo

Profession:

Attorney, Board Member of the Tug Valley CVB (Convention and Visitors Bureau), Chair of the Williamson Redevelopment Authority, Member of the Love Williamson Art Brigade

Five Words About Me:

Guerrilla attitude, seeks refined results

One Surprising Skill:

Can belch on cue

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My family moved to Williamson, WV in 1978. I am a first generation Filipino-American, who was a fan of comic books and science fiction, loved to write, and filmed movies with my Dad’s video camera. Phillips Academy in Andover Ma. provided me with a Prep School education. I received my BA in English at Centre College, which included a semester abroad in London, England. I earned my JD at the Golden Gate University School of Law in San Francisco CA. I spent 13 more years in California before returning to West Virginia to start the practice of law in my hometown.
Since returning to Williamson, I’ve spent two years creating outlets. The results have been a monthly open mic, night, an annual pop culture convention, WillCon, that has reached 1400 attendees, a pop up art gallery, a shadow cast of Rocky Horror Picture Show, and presenting Miki Sawada’s Gather Hear Tour.

Lori McKinney

Lori McKinney

Profession:

Founder/Director of RiffRaff Arts Collective

Five Words About Me:

Inspired, motivated, free-spirited, soul-driven changemaker

One Surprising Skill:

I’m a Ninja Master of Miss Pac-Man

Princeton, WV native and JMU graduate Lori McKinney felt called to build community around the creative arts. She dreamed of producing multimedia shows that would bring people together and inspire change and founded LLyniuM entertainment to accomplish those goals. Now developing more fully into her role of a local business leader and community organizer, she uses the arts as a vehicle to catalyze economic growth. Together with her husband, Lori co-founded Culturefest World Music and Arts Festival, a weekend long immersion in the creative arts, in 2004. In 2006, they formed the RiffRaff Arts Collective (RRAC), a cooperative and interdisciplinary group of artists based in a multi-faceted creative zone in a historical building in downtown Princeton. It serves as the transformative epicenter in a once-distressed neighborhood. In 2012, they teamed with members of the community to create Princeton Renaissance Project, a strategic downtown development effort. Lori spearheaded a large-scale public art campaign amongst other projects; she continues to facilitate dozens of community meetings and gatherings to engage the community in downtown activities.

Lauren Kemp

Lauren Kemp

Profession:

Program Director Unlimited Future
Project Coordinator for Central City ON TRAC and West Huntington Cultural District

Five Words About Me:

Productive, determined, driven, relatable, collaborative

One Surprising Skill:

I can sew and love making costumes

Huntington is the place that I built a sense of community through my experience with The Wild Ramp and I am happy to call it home. Today I work in Economic Development at a business incubator that empowers people to be entrepreneurs and create their own economic future. My current projects are centered on the development of a Cultural District in West Huntington that brings together the antique shops with artists to create a more vibrant vision for the future.

Chad Andrew Floyd

Chad Andrew Floyd

Profession:

Artist, designer, creative problem solver

Five Words About Me:

Artist, Creative Problem Solver, Thinker

One Surprising Skill:

Welding

I am an artist, a designer, and a creative problem solver from the West Huntington. I went to public school in Wayne County, and graduated from Marshall University’s School of Art & Design in May of 2017. My life has always gravitated towards art, creativity, and expression. But in my time in public school, it was the genuine and sharp if not too sharp wit of my art teacher who began to light my path forward into the arts. She stoked a fire I did not yet know I had. As I built on that fire it grew once again, coming into Art School, in college. Another mentor, another educator of the arts took hold of my path and helped me pave it into the beginnings of a highway for my future, built by creativity. Today I use my strong foundation in creative problem solving to give back to my community and help facilitate and support the art community of the Huntington area.

Beth Keener-Flanery

Beth Keener-Flanery

Profession:

Executive Director, Arts Monongahela/Artist/Designer

Five Words About Me:

Tenacious, Friendly, Visionary, Grateful and Confident

One Surprising Skill:

In 2019 I’m working to learn to weld and to speak sign language a bit better

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Designs

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I hold several art degrees & have happily dedicated many years to the professional field of art. I’m thankful for my education & career but am learning even more while living in the quiet of the woods, working in my small studio in Taylor County. As I age I appreciate the formalities, but am more interested in the lighthearted creative journey.
In my professional career, I’ve worked as a graphic designer, arts advocate, adjunct professor of design & art history, museum administrator @ the Mattress Factory of Art in Pittsburgh, gallery owner in downtown Nashville, a teaching volunteer at The Frist Art Museum, worked w/ artists in the community to help revitalize East Nashville into the thriving & creative community it is today. Lastly, worked as an accessory designer since 2010 with exhibition & runway shows in Nashville, Miami, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, D.C., & both VA and WV.

Adam Hodges

Adam Hodges

Profession:

Extension Agent, West Virginia State University

Five Words About Me:

Passionate, committed, community educator & leader

One Surprising Skill:

I can play drums

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Adam Hodges was raised in Huntington WV. Living within a five minute walk of the Huntington Museum of Art, art and history have been a constant influence throughout his life. “I took ceramics classes there from about eight years old all through high school, even learned to ride my bike in their parking lot,” he says. He attended Marshall University (BFA in Sculpture, minor in History, 1995) (MA in Painting in 2001), and Western Michigan University (MFA in 2004). In 2006, Adam became the Director of Museums for the West Virginia Division of Culture and History overseeing a 17 million dollar museum renovation. In 2010, he accepted his current position as an Extension Agent for West Virginia State University.

It is my belief that community development must always be at the heart of economic development, without a healthy, successful community there will never be a sustainable economy.

Sara Cottingham

Sara Cottingham

Profession:

Community Planner at Downstream Strategies, LLC

Five Words About Me:

Hopelessly organized old soul

One Surprising Skill:

Expert floor installer!

Sara Cottingham is an environmental planner and community development specialist based in Morgantown, West Virginia.
Sara’s passion for rural communities first brought her to the Mountain State in 2012, and she is proud to be a West Virginian by choice. Working for Downstream Strategies, she serves as the company’s lead planner for environmental, community revitalization, and business development projects. She works extensively with clients across the country, ranging from small grassroots groups to regional and national organizations, and offers expertise in grant writing, capacity building, fundraising, and volunteer management. Outside of work, Sara is an accomplished old-time musician and takes occasional commissions for her hand-carved prints and pastel drawings. As an Impact West Virginia Fellow, Sara completed a 12-week volunteer project in 2018 for the Tamarack Foundation for the Arts and enjoys staying involved with the organization. She spends her spare moments in the woods with her dog, Henry.

Joy Bridy

Joy Bridy

Profession:

Artist Potter

Five Words About Me:

Wild, Meandering, Curious, Visionary, Joy

One Surprising Skill:

Brainstorming

Locals say that a wild woman walks these paths, in the mythical clean air and water of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed in the Eastern Panhandle of WV. An artist potter, flaneur, and lover of trees can be seen along the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers, the Appalachian Trail and C&O Canal. These water lines both keep her alive and inform her work in art and community. She stands true to her heart and values, and thrives with grass-roots connections and creative projects of subtle but strong magnitude. If you catch sight of her, you’ll surely see her tell-tale pooch, and possibly a sketchbook under her arm. While not from here, she is of here, and welcomes your genuine conversation.

Mitzi Sinnott

Mitzi Sinnott

Profession:

Performing Artist, Educator, and Activist

Five Words About Me:

Border-crossing artist, dreamer, heart connector

One Surprising Skill:

a basic astrologer who can teach tap dance

Named in the “Top 5 Best Diversity Speakers in America,” by Campus Activities Magazine performance artist, activist, and educator, Mitzi Sinnott presented her unique family saga “SNAPSHOT: a true story of love interrupted by invasion,” featured repeatedly on PBS nationwide, and on stage in South Africa, Scotland, Sweden, Brooklyn, and campuses across America. SNAPSHOT is the true-life quest of a mixed-race daughter from Central Appalachia who eventually finds her Vietnam Veteran father suffering in Hawaii.
Audience feedback affirms her story has transformative power which she incorporates into her keynote presentations, campus workshops and strategic planning efforts, using story-telling to reveal, connect and challenge.
Mitzi’s personally familiar with the complexities of racial identity, mental illness, and the legacy of war. She is a champion of authentic conversation who effortlessly and respectfully navigates difficult topics, making her very effective on college campuses and why she is a sought-after keynote speaker for groups like Marshall University’s Women of Color Luncheon, St. Thomas University’s Leadership Institute, The National Conference on Race and Ethnicity, AFLV West, APCA National Conference, and Artist Thrive Summit.Currently Mitzi’s company All Here Together Productions utilizes her expertise to convene conversations about race and class across industries and interests, building more tolerant communities, learning from the past, re-imagining our future, one story at a time. This is her life’s purpose, creating community from strangers.

Margaret Mary Layne

Margaret Mary Layne

Profession:

CEO Layne Consulting, LLC – providing nonprofit, economic development and governmental consulting services

Five Words About Me:

Avid Reader, Gourmet Cook, Tree Lover, Virgo Vegetarian

One Surprising Skill:

I was born knowing how to cook